<> Ask the Pastor Pastor Walter P. Snyder Before tossing out the first question, I ask that my readers would please join in praying for Laura, my five-year-old daughter. She lived up to her nickname "Crash" in a roller skating accident and is now the proud owner of a broken arm. Please pray for both healing and for patience. We have two questions from the same person this morning, so here goes.... Q: Would be wrong to say that although there is a Trinity and that Jesus is God, He did not become the Son until some point in time? A: One of the three great creeds (statements of belief) of the Christian Church is the Athanasian Creed, sometimes called the *Quicunque Vult* from its opening words, "Whoever will be saved." This confession of faith deals in great detail with the Trinity, bringing the teachings of Holy Scripture that are spread throughout its pages into one document. Included in the creed are the lines, "The Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Ghost eternal. And yet they are not three Eternals, but one Eternal." This is in keeping with such words of Jesus as, "Before Abraham was, I Am," and "I and my Father are One." This creed continues to express Scripture truth by later saying of Jesus, "For the right faith is, that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man; God of the Substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds; and Man of the substance of His mother, born in the world; Perfect God and perfect Man, of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting." As we look elsewhere in the Bible, we see clues of the eternal Sonship. Consider the expressions of Wisdom in Proverbs, the creedal statements made in the Pauline Epistles, the Gospel according to John, and the Revelation. The Christian Church confesses that his humanity has a definite beginning: The eternal God takes on human flesh in his Incarnation. We can't set the date on our calendars, but we know that this happened when he was conceived by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary. Thus, the eternal Son of God became for time and eternity also the Son of Man. On the eighth day of his birth, he received the Name Jesus, and the rest, as they say, is history. Q: Also what is your reaction to this statement: Clark Pinnock says that "to confess sufficiency and clarity is just to affirm that Scripture contains enough light to save sinners and direct the church"? In 2 Timothy 3:15 Paul reminds Timothy that the Scriptures "are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus." This is not to say that the Bible exhausts all possible or even all actual revelation (John 21:25) or that it reveals everything that can be known about God (1 Cor. 13:12). This means that modern revelations from God are not to be placed on a level equal to Scripture in authority; they are not to be used as yardsticks for judging other revelation. In other words, any source of "revelation" that contradicts Scripture is to be rejected (see John Wimber). Do you find this statement a challenge to *Sola Scriptura*? Thanks and Lord bless. A: I do not. In history, we see instances when God went beyond his revealed word in revealing special information to individuals. Some of this later became part of the Scriptures, while some of it was strictly for a certain person or for a limited time, and we have no evidence of what was said. *Sola Scriptura* is the Christian teaching that "Scripture alone" is our source and norm of all doctrine. If God doesn't reveal it to all people for all time, then we are not to base our teaching upon it. Sometimes individual revelations are expressed within the confines of the Word, such as when God tells Saul to go to the street named Strait. While this journey was necessary for the restoration of the one who became the Apostle Paul, it is not necessary for us. However, the words later revealed by God through Paul are among those that make us "wise unto salvation." Finally, even "Scripture alone" is made subject to *Solus Christus*, or "Christ alone." The Bible is only understood in terms of the Savior and his work of redemption. As Jesus said, they testify to him. Thus, individual revelations are to be judged in light of Holy Scripture ("test the spirits, to see if they are of God") and the Bible is to be understood in light of Jesus Christ. It will always be "Scripture alone," yet also "grace alone, and faith alone." Yet above all, it is "Christ alone" who enables us to judge doctrine, who heals and restores us, and who shepherds us to our eternal home in heaven. The clarity and sufficiency of Scripture has Christ as the focal point. Remember to "Ask the Pastor" at P.O. Box 1080, Jasper, Texas, 75951; E-mail xrysostom@aol.com; or catch me around town. Pastor Snyder serves St. Paul and Faith Lutheran Churches, Jasper and Woodville, Texas and is the coauthor of "What Do Lutherans Believe? A Study Guide in Christian Teachings for Adults." Copyright (c) 1997 by Walter P. Snyder Permission is granted by author to reproduce or retransmit this by any means, provided that its content is not altered, that this notice of copyright and permission is included, and that no financial gain is realized.